Lord Castlereagh ,in rising to call the attention of the house to the motion of which he had given notice on a former night, declared, that no man was more strongly impressed than himself with the conviction, that the country ought not to be called upon to grant the highest honours it had to bestow, unless the claim to those honours was clearly and distinctly made out. As a general principle, it was wise and prudent, that those honours should rather be given in the contemplation of some splendid and signal services, which admitted of no dispute, than for the general merits of a life mixed with political matter, about which there might be a great difference of opinion. This rule, however, though general, was by no means universal. Some splendid exceptions had occurred, and cases which were not to be confined within the common course of precedents. The case he had now to present to the consideration of the house was not a case of a common nature. The motion he had to make was respecting the honours which should be paid to the memory of a man who had something in his character and the whole of his conduct, which disarmed all party feeling, and made every one inclined to pay him the tribute of public gratitude and of individual respect. The late marquis Cornwallis was a man whose ta- 121 lents were, perhaps, not of a nature sufficiently splendid to distinguish him by eloquence in the senate, but yet his career was useful and brilliant. He combined, with the professional knowledge of a soldier, that degree of political judgment which made him equally serviceable to his country in the civil and the military capacity. To speak of him as a soldier, a high degree of praise was due to him. No degree of prosperity or good fortune was able to strip him of the virtues of generosity, moderation, and forbearance, for which he was so eminently distinguished; nor did any reverse of fortune which he encountered, lower his professional reputation, or deprive him of the respect even of his enemies. In his political life, he had rendered the most important services to his country, and had preserved the same exalted character. He first carried with him to the government of India, those two grand principles to which the good government and prosperity of those countries must be principally attributed. The first was, giving the natives a fixed and certain property in the lands they cultivated, and the second was the introduction of a stable administration of justice. To him was principally committed the management of the union in Ireland; and although this was a subject whereon he knew some would differ from him in opinion, he must be allowed to say, that he considered it as one of the most essential services to the state, and which posterity would do justice to. He could not avoid reminding the house, that he also had concluded the peace of Amiens; a peace which, although at the present day many might object to, was approved by parliament, and had the cordial concurrence of himself, and those with whom he had the honour at that time to act. Their successors in office would feel, that it was this peace which gave them the means of carrying with them the public spirit, and raising the public force, to meet the difficulties in which this country was now placed. After the brilliant successes which had been obtained in India, under the administration of the marquis of Wellesley, it was thought that it would be useful to the country to employ the talents of the marquis Cornwallis, in consolidating those possessions which the British arms had gained. Although at the close of life, his lordship, with a self-devotion which cannot be too highly praised, resolved to embark for 122 whatever place in which he could be most serviceable to his country. His health had been in a declining state even before he left Great Britain, and he soon fell a victim to the climate of India. It was worthy of notice, that, within a very short space of time, the country had been, by the hand of Providence, deprived of three of its most distinguished characters. He thought it would be no contempt to the living to say, that three greater characters, than those who had so lately fallen, could not be found throughout the empire. Connected as he was, by the sincerest friendship, with the marquis Cornwallis while he lived, and knowing better than most gentlemen in that house the great services he had rendered the country, no man was more bound than he was to call for every honour to his memory, now that he was no more. His lordship concluded by moving, "that an humble address be presented to his majesty, praying that he would be graciously pleased to direct that a public monument should be erected in the cathedral church of St. Paul, to the memory of Charles marquis Cornwallis, late governor-general of Bengal, in memory of his high and unblemished character, his long and eminent services, and his unwearied zeal and devotion, to the last moments of his life, in the cause of his country."
§ .Mr. Charles Grant ,in rising to second the motion made by the noble lord, conceived himself peculiarly qualified to speak to the merits of the noble marquis so far as they respected India. From his personal knowledge of that country, and from his residence there during the administration of that lamented nobleman, he was able to bear testimony to the happy effects of the regulations he had introduced into the government of that country. The regulations he had introduced respecting property were of the highest importance, and the good effects they had produced would amply justify any encomium that might be passed on that subject. It had before been a question whether property should be hereditary. The wise policy, however, that guided the conduct of lord Cornwallis, in that, as in every other instance, had been rendered abundantly obvious, by the effects it had produced on the prospects of the country.—After a variety of observations, which were delivered in a low tone of voice, the hon. member declared the impossibility of doing justice to the memory of that great man, whether 123 in respect to the integrity, the ability, or ardour, he had uniformly displayed in the service of the public.
§ Mr. Francis .—The motion, sir, which has just been made by the noble lord, and supported with great propriety by the hon. director of the India company, wants no seconding of mine to recommend it. I believe it is as much in unison with the judgement and feelings of every man in this house and in the nation, as it is with mine. I have many motives for wishing to take some part in it. One of them has arisen accidentally from a passage in the noble lord's speech, repeated and enforced by the hon. director. I find now, though it had not occurred to me before, that I am personally indebted to the memory of the noble lord whom we have lost. It is said, and, I doubt not, very truly, that lord Cornwallis, proceeding on a principle of benevolence, which in my mind is the essence of wisdom, and the foundation of national prosperity, made it his first care to protect the people, whom fortune or Providence has placed under our dominion. Let our right be what it may, I am sure there is no other way to make the possession either profitable or secure. On this principle lord Cornwallis gave to the natives of Bengal a security in their landed property; I appeal to the noble lord, and more particularly to the hon. director, whether this is not the very plan which I proposed in 1776, and which lord Cornwallis has done me the honour to adopt and execute? I am bound to be grateful to his memory for the honour he has done me. In stating other reasons for my concurrence in this motion, I shall confine my view to the Indian theatre, as the hon. director has done. I know it best, and that, on this ground, lord Cornwallis's merits are not only eminent but indisputable. Sir, an occupation of thirty years at home and abroad in the service of India, has given me a claim to an interest in any question that concerns it. He who has served that country, as lord Cornwallis has done, is entitled, on that score, to all the return that I can make him. To do him honour is not in my power. But it is honourable to myself to contribute, if I can, to the only reward that can now be given him. But I am specially bound to it by another tie. Every gentleman in this house cannot know as well as I do, what his merit was in undertaking to go to India at so advanced a period of his life. 124 He could not be insensible of the probability there was that he might never return to England. I thought it a certainty. He saw his danger, and be encountered it without hesitation for the public good. It was a danger too, which, though far beyond that of a battle, had no prospect of military fame to recommend it.—Another argument arises out of this consideration. The merits and the honour of lord Cornwallis are not within the reach of diminution; but his fortune has not been equal to his deserts. It has not been his lot to die where his gallant mind would have led him, in the front of a glorious contest with the enemies of his country, at the head of a successful army, and in the arms of victory. Is it possible to doubt that he, who risked his life for a most meritorious purpose, but without, the hope of fame, would not gladly have resigned it, on the same principle, in any other field, in which honour might have been obtained? That good fortune was denied him. It is our duty then to repair and fill up what was wanting in the measure due to his well-earned character. Let the gratitude of his country accompany his name in its descent to the latest posterity. The measure proposed is all we can do, and I am proud of having some share in it.
§ Mr. Windhamsaid, that with all his respect for lord Cornwallis, notwithstanding his regret for his loss, and his firm persuasion of the many virtues that he possessed, he still very much doubted whether he was entitled to such honours as had been proposed. The same objection occurred to him that he had stated on a former occasion. He thought, that those honours should principally be given on account of splendid talents employed successfully. As for his concluding the peace of Amiens, it could not be expected, that he should think that added much to his claim. Although his services had not been altogether so brilliant as those of some men, yet, when he considered the purity of his mind, and the great virtues which he possessed, he should not in this particular case oppose the motion.
§ Mr. Wilberforceexpressed himself extremely happy, on many grounds, that this motion had been brought forward, as it gave him an opportunity of expressing the sentiments of gratitude he felt for the eminent services of the noble marquis. He felt great pleasure in hearing the noble lord, and the hon director, as well as the 125 hon. member opposite to him (Mr. Francis), who were all so well acquainted with India, pay such unequivocal tributes of praise, and bear such ample testimony to his great deserts; but he was desirous, that they also, who were not so well acquainted with India should have an opportunity of expressing their opinions and their feelings in favour of one, whose whole life had been devoted to the service of his country, If we looked back to the history of any country, in ***ancient or modern times, what was the situation of the distant colonies they possessed ? Too often we shall find the unfortunate people groaning, and miserable under the weight of a system of tyranny, oppression, and rapacity, exercised without mercy and without bounds, by their governors; for the purpose, in the first place, of enriching themselves; and, in the next, of providing as much more as would purchase them security from all enquiry at home. But how very different from those, was the conduct of this great and good man, who had caused British laws and regulations for the security of persons and property, to be transplanted into the bosom of India, and fostered and extended to its most distant parts; who had, while there, been the idol of millions, and who left it with the blessing of all who knew his name. In his civil, military, and diplomatic capacity, he had, on every occasion, evinced the most ardent zeal and anxiety, to do service to his country; and in this last great act, he had only failed, from an unfortunate diminution and decay of bodily strength. In all his former transactions, he had been crowned with success; and if life had been allowed him now, he had no doubt, but his great exertions, and the high estimation his character was so deservedly held in by all ranks and degrees of the people of India, that he would have achieved for his country brighter successes and more extensive advantages, than those it had already to boast of. Every action of the noble marquis seemed to have been so connected with the happiness of the people, that it had produced the happiest effect; and he hoped we might, through his example, convince the millions there, who are subject to our sway, that we are able, and willing also, to rule with justice, and make those we govern happy. He thanked the noble lord, therefore, for having brought forward this motion, which had, he said, his warmest approbation.
Mr. O'Harasaid, that if the noble lord had confined his motion to the conduct of the noble marquis in India alone,: either on his first or second visit, or to both, he certainly should not have had the smallest objection to giving Ins vote for any honours to his memory ; but, when he brought forward other subjects, and blended them together, as he had now done, he could not hut suppose that he must awaken in him, and many more hon. members, who had the same cause to feel as he did, the most melancholy and painful sensations. The noble lord had alluded to the peace of Amiens. For his own part, he could see no great merit in that transaction, nor any benefit accruing from it to the country, nor had he ever heard others speak of it more favourably than as an act of necessity. But when he went further, and alluded to the Union of Ireland with this country, he could by no means give a vote for funeral honours to the memory of a man, who had had so principal a share in that transaction, which he looked on as mischievous and fatal to the interests of Ireland. He felt this the more poignantly and deeply, when he recollected that the people of that country had, not long before, obtained a constitution, which was the wish and pride of their hearts; which promised to make them a prosperous, an independent, and a happy people; and which had, in fact, during the short time they had enjoyed it, done more than was expected. They had, since the union, experienced a very different system indeed; a system the very reverse of what he had just mentioned, and which must, ere long, if that disastrous measure should not be rescinded by this country, prove, from its extreme expensiveness, altogether ruinous to Ireland. When he recollected also the, shameful and barefaced corruption, which was openly carried on, for the purpose of carrying that fatal measure, and which reflected the greatest disgrace on the justice of this country, and called to mind the high part the marquis Cornwallis filled in the scene of that transaction, he must oppose the motion, and thought no one could fairly blame him for objecting to it.
Mr. Huddlestonobserved, that marquis Cornwallis was one of the greatest characters, as appeared to him, that ever went from this country to India; indeed his name was Well known, and greatly admired in every part of the world. He carried with him to India that for which his name will never be forgotten, a love 127 and a due administration of perfect justice, including moderation. With absolute power, he was rigid in the dispensation of justice, but never lost sight of humanity. He gave an instance of the rigid justice and integrity of the noble marquis towards Tippoo Sultan, who had sent a large sum of money which he thought would detach us from those with whom we were united, and the money was sent back to him in a manner worthy the dignity of the British empire, because it should not be said that we deserted our allies. In a word, lord Cornwallis had laid down a system in India which, as it was the interest of this country, so he hoped it would be the practice of its representatives there, to follow. He had, for these and other reasons, the greatest of all satisfactions in assenting to the motion now before the house.
Mr. Princepsaid, he should have contented himself with giving a silent vote on this motion, had it not been for the observations which had fallen from some members who had taken part in this debate, who bad doubted the propriety of the measure now proposed; these observations called upon him as a public man to give his opinion, as well as his vote upon the question; he considered the marquis Cornwallis as great a man as any this country ever possessed. He admired the manner in which he had acted as a public character, and particularly the mode he had succeeded in introducing in India, for regulating the security of property. He had much opportunity of experiencing the effect of the conduct of the noble marquis, and he could not now help expressing these sentiments as a tribute to his memory.
§ Mr. Foxsaid, he heartily concurred in the motion now before the house; but it was necessary for him to express the ground on which he did it, because he should have given his vote on a former occasion in like manner, had it been proposed at the time the vote was agreed to on the memory of Mr. Pitt. This was a testimony to the general merit, of the noble marquis, and not on any particular part of his political life, however proper that might be; and he would observe also, that he agreed to this motion with the more satisfaction, because the words " excellent statesman," were not in it. On that ground, he begged his vote to be considered to be given, and that even, notwithstanding. what had been said by an, hon. gent. behind him on the subject of the act of union; for in 128 considering that act, with all the circumstances attending it, he thought it to be one of the most disgraceful that ever happened to that country. The motion was then put, and carried.